Inglewood school board adopts preliminary 2026–27 budget after tense debate over teacher cuts

The Inglewood Board of Education voted on April 28 to adopt a preliminary 2026–27 budget for submission to the county and state, despite public and board concern about staffing cuts and gaps in the materials provided to trustees.

Board President David moved the budget item earlier on the agenda so it would follow public comment; the board took a roll-call vote after discussion and public remarks and the motion passed with 7 yes votes, 1 abstention (Mister Flores) and 1 no (Rachel Haber). The vote was recorded as a preliminary adoption for statutory submission, not final budget approval.

Why it matters: board members and members of the public said the preliminary plan would lead to meaningful reductions in instructional capacity. An administrator told the board the draft cuts would remove 32 teacher positions from a workforce of 260 (about 12.3%), 8 administrator positions from 25 (about 32%), and 14 support-staff positions from 86 (about 16.3%). Those totals came during board discussion as members pressed for clarity on how staffing reductions were being allocated.

"My biggest concern with this budget is that the vast majority of cuts are coming from the instructional side," Board member Rachel Haber said, arguing the district should "do everything in our power to reduce the number of cuts we make to instruction." Haber cast the lone recorded no vote on the adoption.

Board member Bill urged colleagues to approve the preliminary budget to keep the district in local control and allow the county and state to review it, noting this was the board's last opportunity to submit a preliminary budget before the state could assume responsibility. "If they feel that it's not [thorough], they will then communicate back to us," he said.

Several public commenters asked for more detail. Resident Ignacio Acosta urged trustees to "protect enough of the teachers," and John Babb questioned a roughly $1.2 million reduction in the "improvement in instruction" line and whether that amount had been shifted elsewhere; administration said the decrease was driven by salary-line changes.

Board procedural note: trustee Magali cast a vote in favor of the preliminary budget but stated she did so "with formal reservations," asking that the reservation be noted in the official minutes and requesting clearer data from administration.

What happens next: adoption of a preliminary budget permits the district to meet statutory deadlines; it does not finalize staffing changes. Board members directed administration to provide additional information and promised public hearings and further review before final adoption. A separate, more prescriptive resolution to require a detailed budget impact analysis and other oversight steps was introduced later in the meeting but was not resolved before adjournment.

Vote at a glance: preliminary budget adoption — 7 yes, 1 abstain, 1 no (motion passes for submission).